Home
by Lord-of-Dragons2007
Summary: Natasha has never really felt at home or a part of anything remotely close to a family but her new team, this gang of wild super heroes at stark tower maker her feel like she's home and a part of an adoptive family. this really a fluff peace more friendship than anything else hope everyone likes it
1. A Rainy Night In

Home

By Lord-of-Dragons-2007

**This is purely a fluff fic of Natasha since I'm a big fan of her from the movie, so hope you all enjoy. I do not own the Avengers in any way. Hope everyone enjoys the story, there may be some slight oc but please bear with me; it was meant as a feel good fic.**

Natasha finished a domestic mission that Director Fury had assigned, unfortunately that mission required her to be outside during the biggest storm New York has seen in a very long time.

'God, the one time I get a nice easy domestic mission and I have to be outside in the city's biggest storm in thirty years, I don't mind bad weather when I'm abroad because I don't expect things to be easy or comfortable for me but not here in the states,' Natasha thought as she walked in the downpour, absolutely drenched from the rain, her disguise of flat street clothes under her black trench coat all felt as limp around her body as her fiery red hair did. As Natasha made her way back to the Avengers tower, the rain seemed to only intensify. After a long uneventful walk, the waterlogged spy made it to the entrance of the tower; she walked in and was greeted by JARVIS the AI butler of Tony Stark's.

"Good evening, Agent Romanoff. Dreadful weather out," Jarvis greeted. "I have temporarily disabled the building's central air until you have had a chance to dry off," Jarvis informed her.

"Thank you, Jarvis. What is the current status of the other Avengers?" Natasha asked as she boarded the elevator to the floor where her living quarters were located.

"Mr. Odinson has return to Asgard, something about another world needing his protection. Mr. Stark and Miss Potts are in their home in Malibu. My sensors tell me that Agent Barton is somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, no doubt aboard SHIELD's headquarters, and ah Dr Banner is currently on the training floor meditating." Jarvis reported.

"Should I inform him of your return, Agent Romanoff?" Jarvis queried.

"No Jarvis, that's quite alright, I don't want to disturb him. When he's finished you can inform him," Natasha explained.

"Understood. Arriving at floor forty-eight. Avenger Living Quarters," Jarvis informed when the doors opened. Natasha slumped her way back to her room, and unlocked the door to enter. Her room was like her, simple yet elegant. All the Avengers were provided with a large, languorous bed, a simple desk, and a private shower; they were responsible for decorating the room or changing the furniture as they saw fit. Natasha painted her room a deep lavender color; the sheets on her bed were a burgundy silk. Her desk was modern with a high-tech computer tapped into the building's security and into SHIELD. There was an autumn bench at the foot of her bed, which was made of dark cherry mahogany, and the top had a red silk cushion built in to make sitting on the piece of furniture more comfortable. The rug in her room was forest green. This was her room, and it made her feel as at home as any spy of her caliber could feel. She walked over to the bench and had a seat to take off her soaked shoes. Natasha then went to her dresser and picked out a pair of comfy yet warm sweat pants, a white tank top undershirt, and some other undergarments. She entered her bathroom and decided on taking a nice, long, hot shower figuring that getting pelted by hot water would be a nice change of pace after her mission today. She slowly slumped into the hot shower and leaned up against the wall to support herself as she let the hot water relax her weary muscles, a few small faded scares can be seen on her back. After what seemed like an eternity in the shower was in actuality about forty-five minuets she emerged looking refreshed and in better spirits than she had when she first entered, she slowly got dressed and exited her bathroom,

"Jarvis what time is it?" Natasha asked as she put on socks and slipped into her simple, comfortable slippers.

"It is currently 8:16 pm standard eastern time, Agent Romanoff" Jarvis informed.

She hadn't eaten anything since breakfast this morning so Natasha was pretty hungry. However looking out her window, she could see that the rain was still as strong as when she first entered the tower, so she settled for making something simple at the tower and not go venturing out into the rain again. Natasha made her way over to the kitchen and started to whip together a simple Russian soup that she remembered from her short childhood. Some chicken stock, some ground beef, a couple of sliced turnips, and a few odds and ends. After a few minutes of cooking time, her soup was finally ready. She served herself and ate at the counter in the kitchen. As she sat down and began to eat she let her mind wonder a bit.

'Hmm I can only imagine what Pepper and Stark are doing in Malibu. Thank God I don't have to put up with him or his ego. He is lucky he wasn't here today otherwise the world would have one less genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist in it,' Natasha thought as she continued to eat her soup in the quiet peace of the still room, only hearing the pitter-patter of the rain hitting the sides of the Avengers tower. She thought about calling Barton and seeing if he was up for a night of vodka, but decided against it because he could be in the middle of something with Fury.

Just then, Bruce walked into the room.

"Hello Natasha," Bruce greeted only to get no response from her whatsoever to his surprise.

"Hello? Natasha?" Bruce called in again trying to get the spy's attention while moving closer to her.

"Earth to Natasha are-" Bruce started as he touched his shoulder when next he knew he was on his back against the counter with a spoon to his throat and the beautiful assassin on top of him ready to finish off her would be assailant,

"Oh my God, Bruce, I am so sorry, I had no idea you were there, please stay calm, no need to get upset," Natasha apologized as she helped her teammate up.

"Hehehe it's quite alright Natasha, I should have known better than to sneak up on you like that. And don't worry, the other guy won't make an appearance tonight and uhh, make a mess," Bruce said.

"Was my lack of attention that obvious" Natasha quirked.

"Well when I kept calling your name and you didn't answer it was kinda a tip off," Bruce said with a warm smile.

"Would you like some tea, Dr Banner?" Natasha offered warmly.

"That would be lovely, thank you Agent Romanoff," Bruce accepted as he took a seat next to where Natasha was eating.

"How did your meditation go?" Natasha asked as she poured Bruce some fresh tea.

"Umm, relaxing. It's always peaceful, especially when its raining like this," Bruce answered with a serene smile on his face. However at the mention of the rain, he could see the mood shift in Natasha's eyes and then he realized what had happened.

"I take it your mission today was less than enjoyable," Bruce surmised.

"That is an understatement," Natasha replied, a little bitter about it.

"I'm sorry, Natasha. If I had known where your mission was, I would have gone to pick you up," Bruce apologized.

"It's ok, Bruce; it doesn't exactly work like that. I couldn't be picked up, for the safety of the mission it was best that I walk, though it would have been better if I didn't have to walk in the rain," Natasha explained.

"Well if it's any consolation, Tony should be up to his eyebrows in SI paperwork and so on. It's funny cause he called me earlier gloating about him and Pepper uhhhh, knocking boots tonight in Malibu. But when I mentioned it to Pepper, she just laughed, guessing what Tony had told me and said that tonight was anything but. It's her way of luring Tony somewhere where she can make him sit down and run his company," Bruce said with a chuckle.

"Haha ok, well that makes me feel better," Natasha said with a grin on her face.

"Well I should let you go, I'm sure you want to be alone," Bruce said as he got up to leave.

"No, you don't have to go, you can stay. We really don't talk that much," Natasha said calling out to Bruce.

"Umm ok, yeah you're right. I just kinda figured that you might have some hard feelings because of what happened on the helicarrier with, the other guy," Bruce said in a noticeable melancholy tone.

"No not at all Bruce, it was a long night for us and everyone was under a lot of stress. I know it wasn't your fault, I don't blame you, either of you," Natasha said reassuringly. The two teammates continued to talk for awhile while Natasha ate her soup, speaking about what each had done before the incident with Loki and what they had been up to lately.

"I don't know about you but curling up on the couch in front of the fireplace with a good book sounds great right now, would you like to join me?" Natasha offered as she got up to put her dishes in the sink and noting that it was still raining outside.

"Sure sounds good, I could use a break from the lab. I feel somewhat inspired to write some poetry," Bruce said taking Natasha up on her offer.

"You write poetry?" Natasha asked surprised.

"Well mainly haikus, but its kinda a secret hobby," Bruce admitted.

"So secret that it wasn't on your dossier," Natasha commented.

"And I would hope that it stays that way," Bruce said.

"Of course it will, I'm glad you trust me enough with something you usually keep private from everyone else," Natasha said as they started to move to the adjacent den. Bruce then started to set on the task of starting the fire and turning the lights down a little so that the light from the fireplace would provide the majority of the lighting in the room. When Bruce had finished his task Natasha had returned with her copy of War and Peace. Bruce left to go dig out his journal of poems and she went to the couch on one side and got situated with her feet under her and a blanket over her legs. Bruce returned moments later with an old, beat-up, leather-bound booklet, making himself comfortable in an armchair adjacent from Natasha and started to ponder what to write about. Both sat here like this for a while enjoying the silence and each other's company and their respective hobbies. After awhile Natasha's thoughts drifted and she started to stare out into nowhere.

"A penny for your thoughts, Agent Romanoff," Bruce spoke up getting Natasha's attention.

"What? Oh umm, it's nothing," Natasha said.

"Natasha, whatever it is, you can tell me. I promise you can trust me," Bruce pressed.

"It's just this, us right now, here. It's nice. Peaceful. Enjoyable," Natasha said with a content smile on her face.

"Yes it is, isn't it? I think it's because we're without a certain man of iron who can't stand to not hear his own voice," Bruce commented, which brought a grin to Natasha's face.

"I have no idea how Pepper puts up with him," Natasha said with a slight chuckle in her voice, and then they both went back to their respective hobbies for a bit.

After a while Natasha noticed how tired she was when she started glazing over while trying to read her book.

"Oh wow, it's getting late; its almost one," Natasha said as she looked at her watch.

"Well doctor, thank you for a great night," Natasha said with a grin on her face as she stood up with Bruce.

"It was my pleasure to spend some time with the infamous Black Widow," Bruce said with warmness in his voice.

"Good night, Bruce. Sleep well," Natasha said as she embraced him in a hug.

"You too, Natasha," Bruce said, as their embrace ended and she wandered off to her room for bed leaving Bruce to settle back into the armchair to return to his poetry. When Natasha returned to her room, she began her nightly ritual of brushing her teeth and nightly creams and so on when she started to reflect on the night.

'Despite less than enjoyable conditions of my mission today, tonight really made up for it. It's strange tonight, I just felt at peace, almost like I was at home,' she thought, the idea odd at first, and then smiled.

'I like it…. Home,' she thought warmly. She finished with her nightly routine and crawled into bed, having one final thought as the soft sound of the rain hitting the window in her room lulled into a very peaceful sleep.

'I'm home with this wild adoptive family . . . my family,' she thought with a big warm smile on her face.

**Alright I hope everyone likes it, thinking about making something out of this. Please be kind with the reviews. Thanks guys.**


	2. The Next Day

Home

By Lord-of-Dragons-2007

**well as far as I can tell the story is somewhat accepted, hey thanks guys for giving it a chance. Here's a new chapter hope you guys keep enjoying it.**

A few stray rays of sunlight wondered into Natasha's room and caused the slumbering spy to stir a little, a few moments later Natasha opened her eyes to the new day. She laid still for a bit enjoying the peace and stillness of her room, as she laid in bed she thought back to last night and a small smirk crossed her face as well as a wave of contentment. Then suddenly she began to smell something . . . good, curiosity and hunger drove the spy to finally get out of bed. Natasha gently threw the covers off her body and slowly rolled out of bed into a sitting position,

"Good morning Jarvis, what time is it?" Natasha asked the AI,

"Good morning Agent Romanoff, it is currently 9:15 am standard eastern time" Jarvis informed,

"Thank you Jarvis" Natasha thanked, and sluggishly walked into her bathroom to brush her teeth and freshen up before she went to investigate the tantalizing smell. Natasha carefully stalked out of her room and followed her nose to the kitchen where she found Bruce hunched over the stove facing the hallway where Natasha walked out of,

"Good morning Bruce" Natasha greeted,

"Good morning Natasha" Bruce said flashing Natasha a smile as she saw that the kitchen counter was adorn with a plate of toast, a plate of beautiful fluffy pancakes, a plate of bacon and sausage, and of course all of the other fixings that go with the large breakfast,

"Bruce this all looks amazing" Natasha commended,

"Thank you Natasha but I can't really take credit for any of it" Bruce said bashfully,

"I'm sure your just being modest, you even made my favorite" Natasha said,

"Natasha I regularly burn water in the lab, Jarvis helped me out a lot doing this" Bruce admitted sheepishly,

"Hey how did you now my favorite breakfast food was buckwheat pancakes?" Natasha asked suspiciously,

"I believe I can explain that Agent Romanoff, when Mr. Stark had me break into the shield database during the Chintari incident I was also instructed to download the complete dossier of each of the avengers. So when Dr. Banner was detected in the kitchen I recommended that he prepare a serving of your favorite breakfast for you Agent Romanoff" Jarvis explain,

"Stark, I should have known" Natasha said sounding fairly annoyed,

"Hey its not all bad, look at it this way at least the fridge will be stocked with stuff that we all like. I mean if we're all gonna be house mates we might as well have what we want" Bruce said trying to reason with the super spy,

"I guess your right, Stark will slide on this one. For now" Natasha said as she was eyeing the plate of buckwheat pancakes as it was calling her name,

"Hey I just noticed there is a lot of food here for just us" Natasha said as she noticed the amount of food in front of her,

"Now its my turn to explain, before you came home last night Steve and Barton called and said that they'd be in-" Bruce started to explain when the elevator doors opened revealing the two teammates in question,

"Did we make it in time for breakfast?" Clint asked as he walked hurriedly toward the counter full of food,

"Morning Tasha, how was your mission yesterday" Clint greeted Natasha with a hug after he fixed himself a plate with a sampling of everything on the counter,

"I'll tell you later, sparing later?" Natasha responded to Clint's question trying to forget her mission yesterday,

"Morning Ma'm" Steve greeted awkwardly as he wasn't sure if he should give Natasha a hug or shake her hand,

"Good morning Steve, and please no need for formality call me Natasha" Natasha said as she greeted Steve and gave him a hug, Natasha had to admit that she liked the way Steve treated her. Even though Steve would have treated any woman the same because that's just way he was, to treat women with respect and formality.

"Alright Natasha, how are you?" Steve asked ask as he fixed himself a plate with as much food as he could,

"I'm doing good thank you, how are you Steve?" Natasha asked with sweet grin on her face,

"Doing alright, still trying to explore and see what's new around here" Steve responded,

The rest of the meal went very pleasantly with the conversations ranging from yesterday's record setting thunder storm to what was on each other's agenda for the day, all the while slowly savoring the group breakfast minus some of the louder and or immature members of their team.

"So Bruce you actually remember that from the fight?" Clint asked as the whole table settled down from a fit of laughter,

"Yeah I mean when I'm. . . the other guy, I still remember what happens I'm just not in control" Bruce explained sheepishly,

"So wait you sucker punched OUR Norse god of thunder after he helped you take down one of those giant machines?" Steve said with a shocked an incredulous look and tone in his voice, Bruce nodded and replied,

"I think its because the. . . other guy was still sore about the bout we had back in the helicarrier" Bruce explained to everyone's laughter,

"Well everyone its been a great breakfast but I think need to get back to the lab" Bruce said as he excused himself from the table and made his way down to the elevator,

"I'll take care of the dishes guys, I'm sure you both have busy days ahead" Natasha offered,

"I'll help, its not right that a dame, err lady, or woman. A woman has to do all the work" Steve offered awkwardly,

"See you in the gym after Nat?" Clint asked,

"Sure see you in a few" Natasha said as she started to clean up, as soon as Natasha and Steve were alone in the room the tension in the room mounted and built, as still after everything that Steve had been through he still didn't quite know to talk to women or even how to act around them and he felt even more tense since he was privy to what Natasha was, which was a cold blooded assassin; the infamous and revered Black Widow.

"Something wrong Steve?" Natasha asked as she put a couple of plates into the cage of the dishwasher,

"what? No umm not at all" Steve answered,

"Steve the tension coming from you is so thick you could cut it with a knife" Natasha said with a quirked eyebrow, which made Steve feel even tenser,

"Its just I'm still trying to understand how the world is changed" Steve said trying to cover what he was really thinking of, but afterwards he seemed to refuse to make eye contact with her,

"I can understand where you're coming from but I think there is more to do this. Let me guess you have a hard time talking with women let alone living in the same place as one, and your uncomfortable with what I did and still do as a livelihood" Natasha surmised much to Steve's surprise,

"Well umm, I've never really known any assassins. Hell I don't think that profession was around in my time, sorry for the profanity ma'm" Steve explained,

"Listen I'm not particularly proud of my life before Barton brought me into the fold at shield, in fact there are some things that I regret that, keep me up at night. Ever since I was brought in shield they showed me that I could use my gifts and talents for good and I have. Shield only sends me on information gathering missions; very rarely do they send me on red ops. Steve I value life and how precious it is, I know you have your own reservations and that's fine. Just, I wanted to tell you my side" Natasha finished with a small gleam of vulnerability in her eyes,

"Natasha. . . I uhh" Steve stumbled to try and find the right words,

"Its funny, I've never really opened up to anyone. Not even Barton knows this much about me. The thing is, I feel. . . I don't know like I can open up to you, like you're the big brother that I never had. I know to some of us here we're just a team or a unit but to me it feels more like a family with us all living together like this. So I figured, there should be a certain extent of no secrets" Natasha admitted showing vulnerability where no one thought was possible let alone imaginable,

"Natasha I hope I didn't make you feel like you had tell me all of this, I wasn't judging you. Its just after the incident involving Loki I started learning so much about well you, and what you do and some of the things you did just, it made me a little uneasy" Steve said trying to explain himself to Natasha,

"Its ok I understand Steve, sometimes I have a hard time with what I've done too. But you have nothing to worry about, I'm not the same person I was seven years ago." Natasha said trying to calm Steve,

"Thanks Natasha I appreciate that, when I first learned that I had been frozen for seventy years and that everyone I had ever loved or care about was dead I thought that I'd be alone. But being with you guys here has made me feel like even though I've lost one family I've gained another family. A crazy, random, out of control family" Steve ended with some humor to try and lighten the mood, to which both shared a needed laugh,

"Thanks Steve" Natasha said with true happiness in her eyes,

"For what?" Steve asked looking very confused,

"For being so understanding, and for sharing the same sentiment for our team" Natasha said with a sweet smile on her face,

"No problem, ma'm" Steve said,

"Steve" Natasha said,

"Yes?" Steve asked,

"Call me Natasha" Natasha said giving him a mock glare,

"Alright m- I mean Natasha" Steve said,

"Excuse me, Agent Romanoff you have an incoming communication from Agent Barton located in the gym. Would you like to accept?" Jarvis Interrupted,

"Yes Jarvis, please put him through" Natasha Responded,

"Hey Nat, you and the Boy Scout done cleaning yet?" Clint asked to Steve's dismay at Clint's reference to him but before he could say anything Natasha spoke up,

"Barton, if you want us to finish faster you can come up yourself and help us finish up. Otherwise you will just have to wait patiently and I'll be down in another twenty minuets" Natasha said pointedly as she stood up for Steve,

"I think I'll pass on that Nat, see you in twenty" Clint said before he terminated the call,

"We should finish up in here, I'm sure you have other matters you wish to attend to" Natasha said to Steve as they set to finish what would have been Tony's chore.

After the task was done and Natasha had parted ways to start their respective days Natasha headed down to the gym to meet with Clint, the gym was on its own floor and was vastly expansive. It contained all manner of weight lifting machines, free weights, treadmills, ellipticals, and stationary bikes. The gym even had a boxing ring, plenty of sparing mats, and tons of punching bags, as Steve tended to go through them pretty quick.

Clint was wearing navy blue track pants with a navy blue shirt with a small shield insignia over his left pectoral. Natasha was clothed in a very similar manner but with a black tank top. The two was circling each other on a wrestling mat,

"So you gonna make the first move Nat? Or am I gonna have to?" Clint asked mockingly,

"Just waiting for the opportune time Clint, you know how I operate" Natasha said studying her oldest teammate, a few seconds later Clint attempted to execute a grab that was quickly countered and sent him tumbling to the ground. Momentarily stunned Natasha saw this as her chance to gain the upper hand went to give a mock jab in the face with her foot, being ready for it Clint grabbed Natasha's foot and used this moment to flip her to the ground while he jumped back up to his feet,

"Ok then, that's more like it" Clint teased as he let Natasha climb back up to her feet, the two continued on attacking and counter attacking each other for several minuets. The two looked like poetry in motion, every move, every attack was as graceful as a professional dancer. After a few minuets of the fast pace they each made a mistake and took the other down to the mat lying next to each other. As they both laid there winded from the match they started talking,

"So how did your mission go last night Nat?" Clint asked breathlessly,

"Barton, its me we're talking about. Of course it was a success, though I could have done without the daylong downpour. Being out in the rain all day was not fun." Natasha said as she was catching her breath,

"How was your briefing last night?" Natasha asked breathlessly,

"How'd you know I was getting a briefing last night?" Clint asked with surprise in his voice,

"When I got back from my mission I asked JARVIS where everyone was and he read your location as being over the ocean, I put two and two together." Natasha explained, and she slowly started to move to a sitting position,

"Ah" Clint said as he joined Natasha and sat up,

"So where are you shipping out to?" Natasha asked as her breathing started to even back to normal,

"Budapest" Clint said with a grin on his face,

"Ah Budapest, I'm jealous" Natasha said as she gently nudged Clint in the arm,

"You know you could come with me Tasha, it'll be like the last time we were there" Clint said with a hint of nostalgia in his voice,

"Something tells me Fury wouldn't stand for a repeat of our Budapest incident, besides I'm going to have to pass. Yesterday's mission was suppose to be my last before I'm suppose to lay low for a bit" Natasha explained,

"I see, well your loss Romanoff" Clint said with a slight chuckle in his voice,

"I'm gonna catch a shower, you gonna join me Nat?" Clint asked as he rose to his feet,

"Thanks but I'm going to stay and work out for a bit longer" Natasha said,

"Jeez I beat from just our spar session, well catcha later Nat" Clint said as he started walking to the exit,

"Bye Barton" Natasha said, Natasha set herself on getting a good run in before she called it a day in the gym. She had turned on the tv on the treadmill to a random channel for some soft ambient noise while she ran, as Natasha ran she let her mind drift. Something she rarely did because it meant she was unaware of her surroundings and thereby vulnerable to be attacked, but she felt safe here. She had her old friend Clint here and aside from the Hulk who still made her feel uneasy she knew that in a pinch he would have her back too. As Natasha's mind wondered around it came to her childhood or lack there of, her family had been killed in a house fire when she was very young. The only thing she remembers from it is the horrible fire, the suffocating smoke, and then . . . emptiness as she had then that night became an orphan. Soon there after she was taken by the red room and molded from the sweet young girl she use to be to the hardened assassin we see before us.

**A/N: ok so I wrote this about a year ago lol but I never posted it cuz I never proof read it or whatnot but anyway here my next chapter to this fluff story arch, hope its as well received as the last. **


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